The study of religious or heroic legends and tales. One constant rule of mythology is that whatever happens amongst the gods or other mythical beings was in one sense or another a reflection of events on earth. Recorded myths and legends, perhaps preserved in literature or folklore, have an immediate interest to archaeology in trying to unravel the nature and meaning of ancient events and traditions.

You just gotta love that Mr Mandelbrot! It took a guy like that to open my eyes to The Truth!!!!

No wonder I’ve always been so dirt poor! I wouldn't say I was trailer trash - but only because we don't have trailers in the UK.

I blame my old maths teacher. She used to insist, despite my protests, that a negative and a negative made a plus.

“–2 + –2 = 4,” she’d drum into us.

But if –2 + –2 did really equal 4, I’d be rolling in millions now. I’d have hired Fiona Shackleton. And my two exes would have had to cough up £2 million each – not to the mention the diamonds, the minks and the houses in Monte Carlo and Aspen.

Instead, the first one gave me 50p for the bus. And the second one tried to sue me.

The upshot was that I was £2 million down after the first husband, and another £2 million down after the second.

But now that gorgeous Mr Mandelbrot has finally stood up and spoken the truth! Whadda guy! A negative plus a negative equals a negative, of course!
–2 + –2 = –4.

Negentropy, he calls it. I’ll make sure my lawyer includes that word on the writ when we sue my old maths teacher for the cool four million.

I will talk about the Strange Attractor/Magnetiser, as you asked. But first I want to explain about the power of intention, which we know about from our shamanic work, but it also occurs in quantum theory.

Once this foundation stone is down, we can then build upon it to show how we can interact with the ‘god particle’ of Chaos Theory, the Strange Magnetiser, by the power of intention within the quantum.

To explain the power of intention from a scientific point of view, I’m going to do a straight lift from Tom Kenyon’s writings on the subject – partly because I don’t think I can improve on his version, but also because he is a shaman with a scientific background. I will just supply the pictures.

So this is from The Magdalen Manuscript by Tom Kenyon.

... Objects of less than one thousandth of an inch obey the laws of Newtonian mechanics. This is because they have enough mass (i.e. density or weight) to have gravitational fields.

However, objects of less than one thousandth of an inch follow a different drummer. This is because their density or mass is too small to create a gravitational field of any consequence...

The quantum world is very strange indeed. So is the fact that both you and I live in the Newtonian and quantum universes simultaneously. Our bodies are squarely in the Newtonian world. If we jump off a cliff, for instance, we will fall until we hit the ground, victims of gravity...

But if we enter the atomic and subatomic levels of our bodies, we are in a different world altogether. The miniscule particles that comprise our bodies are not bound by the laws of Newtonian physics. They are, instead, bound by quantum mechanics.

The quantum world is very bizarre by our standards. Perhaps one way to describe this is to discuss experiments with light. Now, light can take two very different forms, with very different properties. It can, for instance, take the form of particles (photons), or it can take the form of waves.

As absurd as it sounds, if a researcher is looking for light in the form of waves, that is how light will present itself in the experiment. If however, the researcher is looking for light in the form of particles, that is what he or she will see. This early discovery in quantum physics eventually became formalised as Bell’s Theorem which states that at the quantum level, there is no objective observer since the intention of the experimenter affects the outcome.

Somehow, the intention of the researcher mysteriously affects the behaviour of subatomic particles. How this happens has not been explained by science, but it is generally accepted that Bell’s Theorem is true.

But there is weird place where the quantum world and the Newtonian world meet and it is, of all places, inside our minds.

Tucked away inside our brains our teeny tiny gaps between nerve cells. These spaces between neurons are called synapses and the average distance of these gaps – as you’ve probably already guessed – is approximately one thousandth of an inch, the entry gate into the strange world of quantum events.

A nerve impulse has to travel the length of a neuron and jump across a tiny synaptic gap if it is to get to the next neuron. Nerve impulses are much like relay races in which they have to travel the length of a neuron and jump a hurdle. What actually jumps the hurdle is a little molecule called a neurotransmitter.

At any one moment, there are thousands upon thousands of these neurotransmitters jumping hurdles. And each moment is a quantum event since these molecules are approximately less than one thousandth of an inch.

This is one reason why our thoughts can be so novel and unpredictable. Some of the neurotransmitters jumping the synaptic hurdle ‘make it’, while others do not.

Those that make the leap create a response within the next nerve cell. If these hurdles take place in the thinking part of the brain (neocortex) then we will have the experience of thought.

The concept of intention is both crucial to both quantum physics and internal alchemy. Indeed, it is through the agency of both mental attention and personal will (intention) that the alchemist is able to affect quantum events within his or her body/mind.

So that’s the power of intention working within the quantum, from Tom Kenyon. Shamans use the power of intention to get to where they want to go in the quantum — to them, the power of intention is like rocket fuel.

The chaos theorists refer to the quantum or shamanic dimension as the fourth dimension. The gateways to the fourth dimension exist in the quantum-sized, subatomic cracks between the other three dimensions.

Each of the four dimensions is governed by one of the four attractors: the Point Attractor, the Cycle Attractor, the Torus Attractor and the Strange Attractor.

These four “chaos attractors” are what create balance, and bring order out the chaos that the universe appears to be – or rather, there is a pattern, but it’s one so huge we cannot perceive it. For instance, when an ant crawls across a Persian rug, he would consider the pattern to be chaos.

It’s the same with us. But we can use the four attractors as we would anchors in a stormy sea.

Unfortunately, most of us only use three of them – and we need to learn to use the fourth more, the Strange Attractor, the god particle which can help us to create our lives into how we want them to be.

Simple, linear systems that are causal and predictable are the exception in the universe, not the rule. Most of the universe works in jumps, in a non-linear fashion that cannot be exactly predicted. It is infinitely complex. Freedom and free will - the Strange Attractors - prevail over rules and determinacy.

Yet chaos is no enemy and destroyer of cosmos, for from out of chaos a higher order always appears, but this order comes spontaneously and unpredictably. It is "self-organized." The creation of the universe is an ongoing process, not just a one-time event at the beginning. All and everything - and everyone - is part of this creative process. Over time all systems - from molecules, to life, to galactic clusters - are continually creating new organizations and patterns from out of featurelessness and chaos.

The world is not a clock. It is a game, a game of chance and choice. In the game, random processes - chance and serendipity - allow room for free will, individuality and unpredictable creativity.

The universe is governed by laws, but the laws are of a different kind than previously thought. .. They are not written in stone, they are general. They leave infinite room for creativity within certain general parameters. A few fundamental principals exist to establish the parameters, but the Law governs much more loosely than previously thought. The Laws are subject to changes and modifications over time and depend upon the particular facts. ... Self organization is the rule, not the exception....

According to chaos theorists, our greatest successes arise not from a steady, plodding, inexorable, mechanical motion towards a desired goal — but from failure. So then a new, fresh and exciting paradigm can arise, like the phoenix from the ashes of the ancient Egyptian, Greek and Phoenician myths, the Mesopotamian sun disks or Garuda of the Indian Vedas.

It's a triumph of revolution over evolution - and could possibly apply to the rise of HSS after the extinction of the Neanderthals.

At the microcosmic or quantum level, the four attractors are the four forces: electromagnetism, gravity and the strong and weak forces.

This matches, in humans, to the four attractors: sensing (Point Attractor), thinking (Cycle Attractor), feeling (Torus Attractor) and willing (Strange Attractor), which can be compared to the power of intention.

Learning how each of these works can help us to understand how our consciousness functions, and also how to use our will, or power of intention, to be aware of the fourth dimension.

Point Attractor

The Point Attractor governs the first dimension, the line. So if a person is governed by the Point Attractor, they are usually attracted or repelled from activities like positive or negative poles, but fixated on one desire. It is single-minded desire on a fixed point and is usually dictated by how we feel.

Homer Simpson is a typical Point Attractor type. He will eat hamburgers until he bursts if it makes him feel good. His desire is not tempered by sensing or thinking that stuffing himself is not a good idea, or a willingness to control his desire.

Cycle Attractor

The desires that are governed by the second dimension Cycle Attractor, as its name suggests, are more cyclical. It is like a circling magnet – first attracting and then repelling, and then attracting again.

A typical example of a Cycle Attractor type is someone gets so drunk that they have a horrendous hangover the next morning, and so they swear to anyone who will listen that they will never get drunk again. However, by evening time, the urge to drink has kicked in again, and besides, they say, they need ‘a hair of the dog’. They end up consuming the whole coat of the dog, and its whiskers too ... and so on it goes.

Torus Attractor

The cycling in the third dimension Torus Attractor is more complex that the Cycle Attractor. Although it repeats itself, like a cycle, it also moves forward at the same time. This creates a fair amount of irregularity and complexity in the pattern.

It is made up of a spiralling circle on many planes that may, or may not, eventually hook up with itself after completing one or more full revolutions.

The predator prey system in Nature is a typical example of the Torus Attractor in action, as it fluctuates all the time but somehow manages to maintain a balance. Thus Predators A may be very successful in attacking Predators B. This leaves Predators C with no-one to prey on them, thus making them remarkably effective in their preying on Predators D and so on. This continues until Predators B manage to restore their population levels.

Strange Attractor

So as you can see, the Point Attractor, the Cycle Attractor and the Torus Attractor keep us rooted in the finite world, either going backwards and forwards, or round and round in circles.

Some people are extremely content with going on holiday to the same place every year, or only eating one type of cuisine, or even making the same old mistakes ... and their views are to be respected.

However, others see their life like an empty canvas, just waiting for them to splash the paint on it. And when that canvas is finished, starting another one ... and then another ... and another ad infinitum.

Those are the people who will want to know about the Strange Attractor - and I'm afraid in this Lorenz fractal he does look pretty strange.

The Strange Attractor can appear to be a little bit scary to start with as there appears to be no apparent order to its action. But no matter how chaotic it seems, there is a kind of order — of a subtle, fractal kind — and a beautiful one too, that only appears over time when viewed from the right perspective. It’s a bit like when you’re in a forest, you can’t see the wood for the trees. However, the wood is there.

For those who watch Frasier, the elopement of Niles and Daphne was a classic Strange Attractor moment. Niles was on his honeymoon with his new wife, Mel, and they were at Daphne’s wedding to Donny. Both Niles and Daphne thought very highly of their partners – but they had a raging and irrational passion for each other. Anyway, just before the service was about to begin, Daphne suddenly ran out in her white, puffball wedding dress to the camper van where Niles was sitting, and drove them both off into the sunset.

The Strange Attractor is connected to our will – our will for change, our will to explore pastures new, our will for an adventure, our will to create a new world, our will to take a risk — our will for our life to be a life and not just an existence. But it’s not a headlong, foolish rush to insanity. There may be a sense of risk, but one that we know instinctively is right, that sings its truth to us even though our sensible plans may all be laid in another direction. It’s a risk that we know that if we don’t take, we may as well put up our slippered feet in our velvet-lined coffin and wait for the Grim Reaper to come a-knocking.

woodrabbit wrote:Front of the cave/ back of the cave......interesting how the context of cave both metaphor and artifact keeps the dialogue surprisingly fresh.

Woodrabbit -

The Red Wheelbarrow

"so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens."

- William Carlos Williams -

If you are really into wrecking your head,

Then read "The Red Pony" a novella by Mr. John Steinbeck,

Followed immediately by "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas",

Prominently featuring The Red Shark

By Mr. Hunter Thompson,

And then read WCW's few lines again.

Fractal, indeed.

hoka hey

john

"Man is a marvellous curiosity. When he is at his very, very best he is sort of a low-grade nickel-plated angel; at his worst he is unspeakable, unimaginable; and first and last and all the time he is a sarcasm."

I knew you were secretly reading this thread, despite your earlier protestations!

Mr Newton's laws have let us down, my dear. They only work if we make believe that there's 96 per cent dark matter ... which we are not prepared to do.

Plasma physicists now believe that it is entirely possible that the predominant force in the universe is not gravity. A new theory is being proposed, that is being put together from the data coming back from the space. The new theories seem to tie in with those told in allegorical form in ancient mythologies.

Dec. 11, 2007: NASA's fleet of THEMIS spacecraft, launched less than 8 months ago, has made three important discoveries about spectacular eruptions of Northern Lights called "substorms" and the source of their power. The discoveries include giant magnetic ropes that connect Earth's upper atmosphere to the Sun and explosions in the outskirts of Earth's magnetic field.

"The satellites have found evidence for magnetic ropes connecting Earth's upper atmosphere directly to the Sun," says Dave Sibeck, project scientist for the mission at the Goddard Space Flight Center. "We believe that solar wind particles flow in along these ropes, providing energy for geomagnetic storms and auroras."

A "magnetic rope" is a twisted bundle of magnetic fields organized much like the twisted hemp of a mariner's rope. Spacecraft have detected hints of these ropes before, but a single spacecraft is insufficient to map their 3D structure. THEMIS's five satellites were able to perform the feat.

"THEMIS encountered its first magnetic rope on May 20, 2007," says Sibeck. "It was very large, about as wide as Earth, and located approximately 40,000 miles above Earth's surface in a region called the magnetopause." The magnetopause is where the solar wind and Earth's magnetic field meet and push against one another like sumo wrestlers locked in combat. There, the rope formed and unraveled in just a few minutes, providing a brief but significant conduit for solar wind energy. Other ropes quickly followed: "They seem to occur all the time," says Sibeck.

THEMIS has also observed a number of relatively small explosions in Earth's magnetic bow shock. "The bow shock is like the bow wave in front of a boat," explains Sibeck. "It is where the solar wind first feels the effects of Earth's magnetic field." When a knot of magnetism within the solar wind hits the bow shock--"Bang!" he says. "We get an explosion."

The technical term for these explosions is "hot flow anomalies" or HFAs. HFAs boost the temperature of solar wind particles ten-fold (as high as 10 million degrees) and they can stop the solar wind dead its tracks. "This is no mean achievement considering the fact that the solar wind moves at supersonic speeds near a million miles per hour."

"Hot flow anomalies may not play a major role in energizing auroral substorms--they happen too infrequently, less than once a day," notes Jonathan Eastwood of the University of California, Berkeley, who is studying them. "Nevertheless they are of interest. This is a fundamental physical process that accelerates particles to high energies and we are delighted to be able to study it."

Powerful substorms, giant magnetic ropes, explosions that stop the solar wind in its tracks: "We have much more to learn about all these things," says Angelopoulos. "I can't wait to see what comes next."

And if you've the appetite for it, here's a video describing the views of plasma physicists that electromagnetic energy is a more powerful force than gravity in 'space', another misnomer.

I knew you were secretly reading this thread, despite your earlier protestations!

Mr Newton's laws have let us down, my dear. They only work if we make believe that there's 96 per cent dark matter ... which we are not prepared to do.

Plasma physicists now believe that it is entirely possible that the predominant force in the universe is not gravity. A new theory is being proposed, that is being put together from the data coming back from the space. The new theories seem to tie in with those told in allegorical form in ancient mythologies.

Dec. 11, 2007: NASA's fleet of THEMIS spacecraft, launched less than 8 months ago, has made three important discoveries about spectacular eruptions of Northern Lights called "substorms" and the source of their power. The discoveries include giant magnetic ropes that connect Earth's upper atmosphere to the Sun and explosions in the outskirts of Earth's magnetic field.

"The satellites have found evidence for magnetic ropes connecting Earth's upper atmosphere directly to the Sun," says Dave Sibeck, project scientist for the mission at the Goddard Space Flight Center. "We believe that solar wind particles flow in along these ropes, providing energy for geomagnetic storms and auroras."

A "magnetic rope" is a twisted bundle of magnetic fields organized much like the twisted hemp of a mariner's rope. Spacecraft have detected hints of these ropes before, but a single spacecraft is insufficient to map their 3D structure. THEMIS's five satellites were able to perform the feat.

"THEMIS encountered its first magnetic rope on May 20, 2007," says Sibeck. "It was very large, about as wide as Earth, and located approximately 40,000 miles above Earth's surface in a region called the magnetopause." The magnetopause is where the solar wind and Earth's magnetic field meet and push against one another like sumo wrestlers locked in combat. There, the rope formed and unraveled in just a few minutes, providing a brief but significant conduit for solar wind energy. Other ropes quickly followed: "They seem to occur all the time," says Sibeck.

THEMIS has also observed a number of relatively small explosions in Earth's magnetic bow shock. "The bow shock is like the bow wave in front of a boat," explains Sibeck. "It is where the solar wind first feels the effects of Earth's magnetic field." When a knot of magnetism within the solar wind hits the bow shock--"Bang!" he says. "We get an explosion."

The technical term for these explosions is "hot flow anomalies" or HFAs. HFAs boost the temperature of solar wind particles ten-fold (as high as 10 million degrees) and they can stop the solar wind dead its tracks. "This is no mean achievement considering the fact that the solar wind moves at supersonic speeds near a million miles per hour."

"Hot flow anomalies may not play a major role in energizing auroral substorms--they happen too infrequently, less than once a day," notes Jonathan Eastwood of the University of California, Berkeley, who is studying them. "Nevertheless they are of interest. This is a fundamental physical process that accelerates particles to high energies and we are delighted to be able to study it."

Powerful substorms, giant magnetic ropes, explosions that stop the solar wind in its tracks: "We have much more to learn about all these things," says Angelopoulos. "I can't wait to see what comes next."

And if you've the appetite for it, here's a video describing the views of plasma physicists that electromagnetic energy is a more powerful force than gravity in 'space', another misnomer.

"Man is a marvellous curiosity. When he is at his very, very best he is sort of a low-grade nickel-plated angel; at his worst he is unspeakable, unimaginable; and first and last and all the time he is a sarcasm."

Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.

This is the second time that you've asked me a question about a subject you claim to have no interest in, and I've tried to be helpful by giving you as comprehensive a reply as I can. But each time, you've responded to my reply with a put down remark.

"Man is a marvellous curiosity. When he is at his very, very best he is sort of a low-grade nickel-plated angel; at his worst he is unspeakable, unimaginable; and first and last and all the time he is a sarcasm."